Last Minute Gift Ideas: Quick Handmade Gifts, Easy Food Gifts and Using Stockpile for Gift Basket Ideas

It is definitely crunch time for Christmas gifts now! If you have run into the emergency situation where you need last minute gift ideas now, then we wanted to share this a post of quick ideas on ways to make a quick handmade DIY gift, use your stockpile (groceries, toiletries and more that you have stocked up on all year during the rock bottom sales), previous gifts you can re-gift, or other items you have around your home that could make for some great gifts!

Here are a handful of ideas from us, but we want you to share as well by leaving your ideas in the comments!!

1. No-Sew Scarfs and Blankets

Flannel no-sew handmade creations are a nice gift that requires very little time to make. You can also find flannel and flannel pieces quite affordably!  This is a no-sew creation and a very simple gift, that even kids can make them. You can make them from any fabric design or style as well as size from toddler to daddy!

Just cut strips out of your no-sew flannel for the right size you want and then make the fringe by cutting slits into the fabric. That’s it! You could knot it if you wanted, but really just cutting slits is a classic no-sew scarf version.

Here’s a picture of our oldest wearing hers!

You can also make blankets of any size from baby to adult size with the same concept.  We found a tutorial from Crafty Chic Mommy on how to make a double sided no-sew blanket.  You can use this same idea to make a single side too! See her site for the instructions.  We have received both the single layer and double-sided no-sew blankets as gifts before and they are super soft and still in great shape after many years!

We have also made many of these blankets ourselves all year round!

2. Minimal Sew Projects That Are Completed in a Few Minutes

Some great gifts that require very little sewing are aprons (made from men’s dress shirts too!), 15-minute throw pillow recovery, a 10-minute onesie dress, 10-minute and $1.50 kitchen towel apron. These are just a few of many ideas – but these are all so cute, done in a few minutes and require very little money.

3. Other DIY Projects that Are Finished in a Few Minutes

There are several other non-sew projects that you can make in a few minutes and with a few dollars. There are so many ideas out there, but we are going to share a few that can be done quickly….for the last minute gift!

Hot Rice Packs for relaxation with socks, The $10 DIY Fabric Covered Bench, DIY Sharpie Mug, 25 Projects and Gifts made with Duct Tape, the No-Sew Tutu for little girls (make it in their favorite princess color!).

The possibilities are endless, but these are a great start on ideas for a super quick project!

4. Gift Baskets From Your Stockpile

Next is an easy one to throw together super last minute – super-easy gift baskets! If you have baskets or even gift bags hanging around your house, then you may not even have to leave!

If you take a look around your stockpile, you might be surprised with things that you could come up with to make those gift baskets – even to supplement a gift you already bought that you feel just needs a little something more!  Make sure to check the dollar-store as it may be a great place to help find “fillers” for your gift basket themes!  You could also make the basket the main gift and then throw in a gift card too!

Another place to look is your sample stockpile! You could make a coffee sampler basket, beauty sampler basket and more! The possibilities are endless!

• Men’s Basket Ideas:
  • Gillette Razors  (these are over $10 if they were to go buy them!) and Shaving Cream
  • Auto-kit with auto cleaners and towels/shammies (we have several types of auto-cleaners in our stockpile, but would grab those shammies from the dollar store as a filler)
  • Complete grooming kit with razor, shaving cream, after shave, body wash, deodorant, men’s body/hair shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, etc.
  • Office sets with pens, paper, envelopes, staplers/staples, sharpies (from all of the FREE office supply sales this year – you probably have a lot of these in your stockpile)
  • Sport themed filled with items or fan memorabilia from their favorite sports/teams

• Women’s Basket Ideas:
  • Candles sachets and notecards and pens
  • Bath set with lotions, bubble bath, body scrubs, shampoo/conditioners, loofah sponges
  • Beauty set with mascara, lip gloss/stick, eye shadows, bronzers, etc.
  • Fragrance set with body sprays, hair shiners (we have tons of miscellaneous hair stuff!), body lotions, bath salts
  • Hair set with shampoo/conditioners, sprays, shiners, hair oils, brushes, clips, etc.
  • Crafting sets with various items from your stockpile for their craft interest! We have scrapbookers in our family, so this is a really easy one!
  • Gardening supplies and seeds for the gardner
• Student Basket ideas:
  • Book cover, highlighter, pens, paper, notebooks (again you might have a ton of these things from past FREE Office Sales this year) and include a gift card for something personal!
  • Art sets again using the FREE sales from the office stores and craft stores this past year.
  • Study survival filled with snacks, gum, soda, etc.
• Kids Basket ideas both boys and girls (changing things up as needed!):
  • Character band-aids, their very own travel size toothpaste, character toothbrushes, floss, kids’ hair detangler, clips/bows, comb/brush, lip gloss
  • Drawing/craft sets with crayons, pencils, pens, paper, notepads, stamps, coloring books, stickers etc.
  • Candy/treat/snack baskets with boxed juice, candies, bags of snack chips/rice cakes, crackers, dried fruit, etc.

• Foodie Basket Ideas:
  • Movie themed with popcorn seeds, popcorn salts, candy, soda, pretzels, chips, etc.
  • BBQ themed with BBQ sauce, seasonings, salts, etc.
  • Healthy Snacker themed with dried fruits, granola, rice cakes, bottled water, etc.
  • Chocolate lover themed with hot cocoa, chocolate candies, chocolate bars, chocolate cake/cookie/brownie/ mixes
  • Breakfast themed with syrup, pancake mixes, muffin mixes, cereals, granola
  • Coffee themed with recycled mugs (from your own cupboard) or buy from the dollar store, any coffee samples, bags, sugar or creamers
  • Tea themed with mugs, teas, sugars and creams
  • Herbs and Spices – a mixture of herbs and spices that you have in your stockpile yet to be used!
  • Just a snacker – chips, soda, candy, crackers, pretzels and more!
  • Fresh Fruit Basket
  • You can even just give a box of hot cocoa with a candy cane wrapped around it and more single serve items like this!

5. Making food gifts

Pretty simply stated in the title!

• Make baked goods
• Make soup kits (consider our SOS mix with the recipe or a book of recipes from the SOS mix collection)
• Hot Cocoa mix with candy canes or plastic spoons dipped in chocolate (this is the recipe for the creamy, tasty, yet frugal hot cocoa mix)
• Flavored popcorn or chocolate popcorn.  We’ve shared this before because it looks so pretty, tastes amazing, takes just a few minutes to make and is super affordable! Everyone loves popcorn! Again, just pop up popcorn, add a little butter and salt.  Lay on a cookie sheet and drizzle melted chocolate or white chocolate over the popcorn. Bag it up in pretty bags or a nice container and a beautiful tasty gift is at hand!
• Homemade Spice Set like the Taco Seasoning Mix Recipe, Italian Seasoning Mix Recipe and/or the Ranch Seasoning Mix Recipe.  These would be cute as a set in glass jars you already have on hand!
• Homemade Pancake and Waffle Mix with a turner from the dollar store! This is a favorite and frugal recipe!
• Homemade muffin mix with a oven mitten from the dollar store. The homemade muffin mix is one of our most popular recipes.

6. Reach into the gift bin!

We have been telling you about it and preparing you for it all year! Check in your gift bin and you might find some toys, games, clothes, or other things that you snagged a great deal on through out the year!  And if you don’t then no worry – go get an empty box and start one so you are ready for next year!

We hope these ideas will help or at least give you inspiration to quickly pull together your last minute gift ideas on a budget! Once you start doing something, you will realize how fun and easy it is to pull some nice gifts together…..even at the last second!

See more DIY Ideas

See our DIY Pinterest Board